Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Sorry to keep you all waiting!
Chapter Twenty-One:
Nico Falls
"Blastoise, no!" Nico cursed, watching helplessly as the large, turtle-like Pokemon crashed to the ground and quickly slipped into unconsciousness. "Dammit..."
"Ele!" Paul's Elekid hissed, visibly panting from its struggle against the coordinator's Water-type Pokemon. "Ele... Kid..."
"Damn..." Nico breathed, his hand moving back down to his belt where one more Pokemon remained waiting. "No, not yet..."
Nico quickly nodded to his Gallade, which stood beside him patiently awaiting its turn to fight. Acknowledging its trainer it nodded back, then slowly walked into the center of the makeshift battlefield where Elekid waited uncomfortably.
Both Paul and Nico's Pokemon glared at each other, keeping their distance of about seven feet apart. Gallade slowly assumed its typical, elegant fighting stance, the blades of its arms arcing over its body in a defensive posture, ready to defend against any sudden strikes Elekid may make. Elekid, on the other hand, remained quite clearly exhausted from its previous battle with Blastoise, doing its best to appear as composed as possible.
"Gallade!" Nico yelled. "Psycho Cut!"
Gallade silently dashed towards Elekid with the kind of speed typically reserved for a Ninjask. The slender green-and-white Pokemon vanished into a colored blur as it cut across Elekid with a bright pink slash.
Elekid hissed in pain, flinching as it held its arms up to defend against a sudden onslaught of Psychic-type attacks. The air around the Electric-type creature warped and vibrated in reaction to the strange mental energy that bombarded it, not allowing a single instant of relief.
"Ele..." Elekid breathed. "Elekid!!!!"
Suddenly a huge flash of electricity engulfed the two Pokemon, stopping Gallade in its tracks. Both Nico and Paul shielded their eyes from the bright aura of yellow energy before seeing Elekid launching a powerful Thunderpunch and throwing Gallade into the wall of the Blackthorne estate.
"Gallade!" Nico gasped in shock. "How the... Oh, no!"
Nico watched painfully as Gallade's body shivered, several sparks of electricity crackling over its legs.
"Static..." Nico growled, glancing back towards Paul who was smiling despite the obvious difficulty Elekid was having staying on its feet. "The damn thing paralyzed you already?"
Gallade slowly pushed itself away from the wall of the estate, several small stones crumbling away from the location of the impact where a large dent had now appeared in the masonry. It lumbered back towards the center of the stadium nursing one of its arms as the occasional sparks which indicated its temporary paralysis continued to flicker across its body at random intervals.
"Looks like that helped to even the score, huh?" Paul taunted his opponent from across the other side of the street. Alisa watched from the wall of the estate, uncertain as to what was going to happen next - it had been a hard-fought fight from the very beginning, and already it seemed like it was about to come to a close.
"Gallade, let's finish this!" Nico snarled, clenching his fist tightly. "Go! Brick Break!"
"Counter, Elekid!" Paul retaliated. "Use Brick Break, too!"
Alisa watched with wide eyes as Elekid and Gallade both collided in mid-air, a colossal mixture of purple and yellow energy emanating from their bodies as the fight continued to intensify.
~*~*~
"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash declared as the tumbling Pokeball split in two and slowly revealed an enormous, auburn-colored dragon in the center of the arena. Its strong, orange wings flexed proudly, extending as wide as possible as Charizard surveyed its new surroundings, an intensely burning flame flickering at the tip of its tail.
Drew's hands remained on his hips, neither he nor his Masquerain appearing to be at all intimidated by this latest development in their battle. The Bug-type Pokemon flitted back and forth in front of its trainer, apparently still having enough energy to burn from the previous battle against Ash's Donphan. However, Ash was confident that Charizard had what it took to bring down the rest of Drew's team - after all, it was a rare event that Charizard would ever be out-muscled by any Pokemon, regardless of its trainer's skills.
May's face visually brightened as she watched Ash's latest substitution with great confidence. Both Dawn and Brock cheered, pumping their arms in the air in support of their friend's decision, and even Piplup seemed to be impressed by the creature staring down its opponent in the center of the arena.
"I figured you'd do something like this, y'know." Drew spoke knowingly, flicking his lime-green hair back in a way so haughty that Ash could only ever imagine royalty performing such a feat. "You're extremely predictable, just like every non-coordinator out there; all brute force and no strategy to speak of."
"You'd better not underestimate us, Drew!" Ash warned, clenching his fist tightly as Pikachu squeaked in agreement, electricity flickering from its cheeks in eager anticipation of an upcoming chance in the ring. "Charizard helped me win the Battle Frontier for a reason."
Drew simply smirked, folding his arms and nodding towards Masquerain, which quickly regained an aggressive posture, its wings beating faster and faster until the air around them began to vibrate in anticipation of the next move.
"Talk to me again after you've tried your hand at a real competition like the Grand Festival." He retorted. "Masquerain, Agility!"
Ash smiled knowingly as the Bug-type shot towards the waiting Charizard; the fire lizard's eyes tracking the creature's every move as it came hurtling towards it, its wings beating so fast that one could be forgiven for thinking a jet aircraft was taking off inside the underground stadium. Within an instant the creature was behind Charizard, a small ring of water quickly beginning to form in front of its eyes as it readied its first assault on the aloof opponent.
"Fly, Charizard!" Ash commanded, prompting the dragon to immediately leap into the air. Masquerain hurriedly followed the creature, blasting small Water Pulse attacks up towards the fleeing Fire-type as it pursued it towards the high, vaulted ceiling of the underground arena.
"Trying to outrun a Masquerain?" Drew chuckled to himself, his eyes not even bothering to follow his opponent's Pokemon. "What a waste of my time."
Sure enough Masquerain was much faster than Ash's Charizard, particularly after the Agility had raised the Pokemon's flying speed far beyond its typical capabilities. However, Ash and Charizard both understood their strengths as well as their weaknesses, and this was all just a matter of timing.
Soon Masquerain was level with Charizard, the Fire-type's back still turned away from its pursuer. Quickly the Bug-type swooped underneath its opponent, quickly turning as it did so to face the creature in order to prepare a swift Hydro Pump attack to Charizard's face, but Ash and Charizard had other plans.
"Seismic Toss, Charizard!" Ash yelled. "Now!"
Before the startled Masquerain could finish finalizing its attack Charizard reached a claw down to grab the creature by one of its legs, quickly tumbling in mid-air before hurling the creature down into the ground of the stadium. The arena seemed to quiver upon the impact, but the dazed Masquerain was not able to recover thanks to the follow-up delivery of an enormous Fire Blast attack; a trademark move that had won Ash many a tournament before. A gigantic inferno of flames cloaked the entire battlefield, charring Masquerain and prompting the creature to let out a meek whimper in response, the Pokemon clearly unable to battle any longer.
"Masquerain is unable to battle." The computer spoke up again, leveling the score on its display panel to two Pokemon per contender.
Drew scowled towards his opponent's side of the arena as he removed Masquerain from the field. He knew that Ash wasn't able to see his expression from so great a distance, though he also knew that the trainer could feel the anger burning up inside of him.
"So much for your great run." He snarled at the Pokeball in his hand before replacing it on his belt and selecting the middle Pokeball that was embedded in the central console of the arena. Quickly he depressed the white button on the capsule, expanding the device into the palm of his hand where he examined it for a moment before hurling it into the waiting stadium. "Now go, Flygon!"
Neither May nor Brock showed any surprise from the sudden appearance of a tall, sand-colored dragon with green highlights covering numerous parts of its body as it made its way onto the Blackthorne Estate Pokemon field. Flygon was widely considered Drew's strongest Pokemon by many on the circuit, and it was typically employed only in large-scale battles where Drew had a lot on the line and wanted to psych out his opponents. Because of this, Flygon was usually reserved for Grand Festival battles and much of its strategic strength came from the fact that such a powerful Pokemon was a strong mind-game play that a trainer could make.
Contest battles in particular tended to lean towards more mental tactics than those of the traditional Pokemon trainer, as the points system usually had competitors at the height of their nerves anyway and would cause them to play an overly-defensive match - a style of battling that very few judges had the patience for. However, Ash was by no means a Pokemon coordinator, and therefore such strategies had little effect on him, especially given his typically brash and headstrong attitude towards battling. May had watched him in dozens of important matches throughout their time traveling together, and never did Ash allow the pressure of the situation to get to him. If he lost it was simply because he got outplayed, not that he was too scared to take the necessary risks to win.
Perhaps May was overanalyzing the mindset of both trainers as Charizard and Flygon began to trade blows; plumes of fire scorching the ground whilst Flygon did its best to lure the enemy down towards the floor of the stadium where it would be more susceptible to Ground-based attacks. She knew that Drew did not seem to be in a calm, mental state right now, and experience told her that such a lack of focus could cost the boy dearly if he lost sight of his goal. Nevertheless, such knowledge made watching the battle unfold no less tense or nerve-wracking for May, as she knew everything was on the line in this battle.
Brock watched as May clasped her hands together in a praying motion, her head lowering whilst her eyes narrowed in on the battle, her pupils darting from Charizard to Flygon to Charizard again.
'Come on, Ash!' She thought to herself uncertainly.
'You have to win this for us! You've just got to win this for us!'
"Your Charizard isn't bad, Ash." Drew complimented his opponent during a brief lull in the battle where both Pokemon recuperated slightly on their own respective halves of the field, their ragged forms breathing heavily as they did their best to recuperate as much energy as possible. "I guess you must have lucked out when you caught it."
"I told you not to underestimate us, Drew!" Ash retaliated, prompting Charizard to snort in agreement. "I'm getting May out of here and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"We'll just see about that." Drew hissed, a scowl quickly returning to his face. "Flygon, Dragonbreath!"
"Counter with Flamethrower, Charizard!" Ash returned.
Within moments of issuing their commands the darkened stadium was lit up by the impressive glow of two streams of fire colliding in the center of the battlefield. From Drew's corner of the field came Flygon's green flames which seemed to dance around the darkness like an elegant ballroom dancer pirouettes under the light of the moon. From Ash's side of the arena were Charizard's traditional orange-and-red flames that did their best to overpower their rivals, but to no avail. The two attacks continued to push back and forth against each other until they eventually dissipated in an enormous explosion that rocked the stadium and shrouded the entire field in a thick, dark smog.
Both Ash and Drew ducked on their respective platforms, their Pokemon sticking close to their legs as they did their best to avoid inhaling the sudden onslaught of smoke that enveloped the area. Fortunately the Blackthorne Estate's computer had been equipped with measures to prevent or control all kinds of battle-related emergencies, and as soon as the smoke rose to the top of the vaulted ceiling several vents immediately swiveled on the spot before opening and allowing the smog to escape and eventually begin to lift away from the stadium itself.
Much to the surprise of everyone watching, including the competitors themselves, once the smog had cleared they could see that both Flygon and Charizard had continued to fight, using their tails and wings to claw at each other as they soared above the arena, roaring and screeching as they did so. Flashes of Dragonbreath and Flamethrower occasionally tore through the air as the two dragon Pokemon dived towards each other, swooping and evading each other's attacks with a profound grace and power that only a dragon could have.
It was difficult for either trainer to gain a foothold in the battle - both creatures were evenly matched and neither side showed any signs of weakness or openings. May felt her heart beat a little faster as her nerves began to well up inside of her once again.
"Ash needs to play it cool and wait this out." She explained, more to herself than anyone else, though Brock and Dawn obviously paid attention upon hearing her voice.
"Pip?" Piplup questioned, raising a tiny blue eyebrow at the coordinator whose gaze remained transfixed on the stalemate that was unfolding in the center of the underground arena.
"Drew's a coordinator, and he knows how to bide his time," May continued. "But he's also like all coordinators - we're always keeping an eye on the clock."
"But this isn't a contest battle, May," Dawn replied uncertainly. "There isn't a time limit to how long the battle has to go on.
"That's right, Dawn," May conceded, turning to face the young coordinator and the small, blue penguin that sat in her lap. "But when you've been performing in contests for as long as Drew and I have it becomes second-nature in all of your matches to keep a mental clock running while you're battling."
"I see!" Brock declared, prompting the two girls to glance over at him. "So if Ash just keeps a defensive distance Drew will become frustrated and may be lulled into making a mistake just to try and end the match more quickly."
Everyone's eyes returned to the two dragons fighting in the center of the ring, flashes of fire occasionally illuminating the arena and casting shadows upon their faces. Ash and Drew's expressions had both become much more serious since the start of the match, the pressure of the occasion having finally settled in and made a lasting impression on the two of them.
Ash clenched his fist uneasily, leaning against the front of the railing as he continued to watch the match unfold, reluctant to call out a specific attack. Pikachu glanced up at the boy, its ears twitching nervously from its concern for the outcome of the match. The small electric mouse knew it would be next up to battle in the event that Charizard lost, and it also knew that Flygon's Ground-type would favor Drew over Ash even without considering the fact that Drew had a third and final Pokemon ready to use.
"Pika..." Pikachu whimpered uneasily.
"We can't just wait around all day!" Ash declared to his partner Pokemon, then pointed straight towards Flygon. "Charizard, dive and use Steel Wing!"
Charizard let out a fiery roar and quickly swooped down towards Flygon, its vivid orange wings quickly taking on a metallic shine as they took on a sharp and rigid form with which to strike. Both Drew and Flygon seemed ready for this, and a knowing smile crept onto the face of Drew.
"I knew it." He snickered. "Flygon, slam the ground to form a Sandstorm!"
Flygon emitted a loud, piercing shriek that echoed throughout the complex, hurriedly diving down in an attempt to avoid Charizard's oncoming Steel Wing. Flygon lacked most of Charizard's graceful speed, however Drew had made a point to keep the creature close to the ground, and so it quickly reached the bottom of the battlefield before Charizard's attack was able to connect, slamming its claws into the floor and kicking up an enormous cloud of dirt and debris which began to swirl around and engulf the entire stadium.
Ash quickly shielded his face from the sudden blast of dust and clay, cursing under his breath as he heard Charizard let out a painful roar - Flygon had laid a trap inside the shield of the Sandstorm, and the battle had now taken a significant turn in Drew's favor. Immediately Ash realized his mistake of allowing his impatience to get the better of him, and the spectators let out a collective gasp, all praying that Charizard would be able to shrug off whatever assault Flygon had made and continue to battle effectively.
"Oh, Ash..." May whispered to herself, her hand covering her heart in an attempt to slow the frantic beating. "Why do you make things so difficult for yourself?"
"But Charizard's a really strong Pokemon, right?" Dawn insisted, doing her best to keep the spirit of her fellow spectators as high as possible. "I mean, it's not like a little sandstorm is gonna stop it!"
Brock gritted his teeth nervously, the tenseness of the situation now managing to ruffle his normally calm and cool demeanor.
"Charizard is strong alright, but so is Drew's Flygon," Brock explained, knowing that Dawn wasn't fully familiar with the Pokemon of the Kanto and Hoenn regions. "And Flygon has a significant type advantage right now. With Charizard caught in that sandstorm Ash won't be able to use his Pokemon's full speed and power."
A shadow of doubt slowly began to form over the faces of Dawn and Piplup, their eyes staring up at the young breeder with obvious concern.
"But if Ash's last Pokemon is Pikachu," she muttered. "Then that means..."
Dawn's eyes caught a glimpse of May's clenched fist as she began to cast her gaze down towards the floor. Intrigued by this, she kept her vision locked on the young coordinator whose eyes refused to leave the battlefield despite their inability to see through the thick veil of debris which swirled all around it.
Dawn smiled, unable to help but admire the girl's determination and sheer force of will that was matched only by one other person she knew - Ash.
"He will win." May stated simply with a strong, serious tone in her voice. "He
must win."
~*~*~
"Weavile, Metal Claw!" Paul yelled.
"Mismagius, Double Team!" Nico countered.
The small, dark, weasel-like Pokemon on Paul's side of the makeshift arena darted towards its opponent, its large, sharp claws glistening a beautiful shade of tinted orange as the sunset receded into twilight on the island city of LaRousse. Their battle had been raging for close to an hour now, and both were down to their last Pokemon of the match.
Alisa reflected on the match as Paul's Weasel's claws collided with the ground, narrowly missing Nico's Ghost-type Pokemon Mismagius, whose shadowy, purple form resembled the ragged robes and hat of a slender witch from a fairytale. It floated effortlessly above the shredded concrete of the stadium just outside the gates of the Blackthorne Estate, appearing and reappearing all around Weavile as it did its best to avoid a direct hit from the Dark-type's super-effective attacks.
The fight had been a hard-fought one, with neither side giving an inch. Nico's Gallade had slowly succumbed to Elekid's Static and was eventually disposed of by a well-placed Thunderpunch, although it certainly never stopped trying despite the odds. Mismagius, Nico's final Pokemon, quickly overpowered the worn-out Elekid, moving much faster than its opponent and finishing it off rather swiftly with Night Shade. Now the two combatants were down to their final trump cards, and Paul had managed a distinct type advantage. However, Mismagius was no pushover, and somewhat to Alisa's surprise Nico was implementing a great hit-and-run strategy in order to avoid a direct confrontation. Nico knew full well that as powerful as Mismagius was, he had trained it in offense and speed, and there was no way it would be able to survive a direct hit from a well-placed Night Slash. However, the ethereal nature of the ghost had proven to so far be more than enough to daze and confuse the scrappy Dark-type, flickering in and out of reality before firing a few blasts of dark energy with Shadow Ball. Paul viewed it as a coward's tactics, but Nico was always willing to do whatever it took to win.
"You can't keep running forever, kid." Paul snarled. "Weavile, use Hail!"
"Mismagius, Shock Wave!"
Weavile let out a frightening screech that seemed to reverberate for miles, and Alisa was convinced that everyone in the entire city down the road would take note of the noise. Suddenly a flurry of glittering white diamonds began to storm onto the field from the clouded sky above, appearing small at first but gradually increasing in size and velocity as time went by. Before Mismagius resumed its hit-and-run strategy the Ghost-type closed its eyes firmly and began to form a yellow ball of energy, flickering sparks of electricity jumping out from it like flares from the sun. Weavile quickly finished its summoning of Hail and began to dart towards the enemy, its claws now colored a grim shade of purple and appearing to morph and shift like thick tar on a hot summer's day.
Mismagius hurriedly finished its attack, blasting the Dark-type at close range whilst simultaneously being narrowly slashed by the attack. Mismagius winced in silent pain at the inflicted wound before fading out of view and reappearing close to its trainer, its shadowy eyes glancing down on its shoulder where a strange purple liquid appeared to be eating away at the very matter that made up the ghost's ethereal form.
"And Poison Jab makes its mark." Paul smirked, folding his arms confidently as he watched the hail continue to crash down onto the field, Weavile nimbly dodging it with ease whilst the wounded Mismagius let out subdued, pained wails between getting hit by the icy projectiles.
"Dammit..." Nico growled, clenching his fist tightly. "I can't lose this... Not now, not after everything..."
He glanced over to see Alisa's concerned expression from the corner of his eye.
"Not with Alisa watching..."
"Let's finish this! Night Slash, Weavile!"
Weavile let out another piercing shriek, its tiny feet kicking away from the rubble of the battlefield as it flashed its pitch-black claws in preparation for the attack. The distance between the two Pokemon was quickly bridged, and within mere instants the Dark-type was on top of the ghost, jumping with its claws extended. It was all over now.
"Mismagius, Facade!" Nico exclaimed.
"What!?" Paul gasped, his expression of complete shock mirrored on the face of his Pokemon as Mismagius smiled knowingly, a blast of dark energy slamming into Weavile's face and sending the creature hurtling into the wall of the Blackthorne Estate with a loud slam.
"Follow up with Mean Look, Mismagius!" Nico commanded, prompting the ghost to grimace through the increasing pain of its Poison Jab wound and float quickly towards the enemy as it was struggling to get back onto its feet. Mismagius' eyes flashed a deep, dark purple, prompting two beams of energy to escape from them and form dark shackles that slammed into the wrists of Weavile, helplessly chaining the creature to the wall.
"No way!" Paul cried.
"It's over." Nico chuckled to himself, placing a hand on his hips. "Perish Song, Mismagius!"
"No!" Paul yelled, watching in mute horror as Mismagius began to close its eyes and whisper a gentle lullaby. The sound of the creature's voice was a strange dichotomy of relaxing and terrifying, its tone sinking into Paul's very bones as it lulled him into a sense of dreadful complacency and fear.
Mismagius' eyes were now closed and it was completely absorbed in its somber melody - no longer even flinching at the impact of dozens of icy missiles colliding into its velvety, shadow-like skin. Paul clinched his fist. It was time.
"Weavile! Blizzard!!" He bellowed.
"Wait, what!?" Nico replied in shock. "Mismagius, Double Team!"
But both Nico and Alisa knew it was too late - once Mismagius had become absorbed in its singing there was no way of snapping it out of the attack until the song was complete. He had fallen right into Paul's trap and there was no way out.
Weavile opened its mouth, spewing hundreds of razer-sharp icicles directly into Mismagius' body. Not only was the Dark-type at point-blank range, but the power and accuracy of the Blizzard were increased anyway due to the appearance of Hail on the battlefield. Nico felt his blood boiling at how overconfident he had become following that Facade, but there was no longer anything he could do. He had lost the match and he could do nothing more than watch helplessly as Mismagius' limp form fell to the ground, its shadowy body flickering in and out of the twilight as the Pokemon slipped into unconsciousness.
Nico fell forward, slumping to his knees and doing his best to prevent tears from welling up inside of him. He had given it his all - he literally could not try any harder, and yet he still lost. He was pathetic - worse than pathetic. He couldn't beat Drew. He couldn't beat Ash. He couldn't even beat Paul. He was nothing more than a joke of a trainer and now everyone knew it - May, Paul, Alisa - everyone. And he had nowhere to run to. He'd been found in league with Team Rocket and been the fall guy after all. His life was officially over and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Heh..." He managed a chuckle in-between sniffling as the reality of his situation overcame his emotions. "I guess a homeless kid like me really can't do anything..."
Paul watched the boy out of the corner of his eye as he casually returned Weavile to its Pokeball. The hail had already begun to die down now that the battle was over, and he simply walked past the fallen body of Mismagius, stuffing Weavile's Pokeball into his jacket pocket as he did so.
As he walked past Nico he paused for a moment, standing nearby and glancing down with a look of minor disgust on his face.
"How pathetic." He commented snidely, his hands still firmly entrenched in his jacket pockets. "One loss and you fall apart. Try battling me when you learn how to train real Pokemon."
"Hey, wait!" Alisa called after the boy, running to Nico's side as she did so. "Where are you going?"
Paul didn't even bother turning to face the girl as he continued walking down the road that would take him back towards the LaRousse City harbor below.
"Back to Sinnoh; I don't have time to wait around for you losers." He called back casually in response, raising his right hand idly as he did so. "See ya."
Alisa watched the boy leave, frowning a little as his demeanor, though she quickly attended to Nico rather than dwelling on Paul's attitude for too long. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder as he remained hunched over, facing the dirt, where he felt like he belong.
"Nico...?" She whispered softly, her voice the only thing that shattered the overwhelming chirp of Nincadas hiding in the evening scrub.
"Alisa..." Nico replied, his voice full of both sorrow and exhaustion. "I'm sorry."
Alisa wore a slight smile on her face, though Nico was still staring at the ground beneath him and couldn't see her. He couldn't bring himself to face her knowing how pathetic he was.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Nico..." She answered softly; that same, soft tone that had always comforted him during their childhood together. "You should apologize to Ash and May."
Nico groaned, dragging himself onto his feet and walking dishearteningly over to Mismagius. He held out his Pokeball, absorbing the creature into a faded red beam of light and capturing it back inside the device before turning around to face the girl behind him.
"I have to go." He replied blankly, attaching Mismagius' Pokeball to his belt and walking past Alisa, heading down the road towards LaRousse City.
"Wait; go?" Alisa called after him, quickly scrambling to follow. "Go where? There's nowhere for you to go!"
"I'm sure the whole of Sinnoh is after me after that stunt we pulled with Team Rocket." Nico responded calmly, refusing to make eye contact with the girl as he looked straight ahead at the road which stretched before them.
"We?" Alisa echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh," Nico stammered, clearly flustered by Alisa's questioning tone of voice. "I mean, the stunt
I pulled. The stunt I pulled."
"But why, Nico?" Alisa asked, stepping in front of him and stretching her arms out to block his progress towards the city. Her face wore a stern expression, which was a look uncharacteristic for her.
"Why what?"
"You know what." She scowled as she spoke. "Why'd you try to steal all those Pokemon?"
Nico sighed, looking into the girl's deep eyes as twilight slowly lost its battle with night and the glow of the moon was swiftly becoming the only source of light they had to see each other with. It wasn't that he wanted to lie to her, but he knew the truth about her father would only upset her more.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nico attempted to dodge the question, but it was a somewhat half-hearted attempt and Alisa could easily tell. He simply didn't want to be here right now - he wanted to be alone, where he belonged.
"Stop running away from me, Nico!" Alisa raised her voice, but Nico simply pushed past her, prompting her to dash in front of him, her arm raised.
Nico paused for a moment, confused by her motion, then quickly felt the sting of Alisa's hand slapping him across the face. The sound was actually more painful than the hit itself - it was flat and heavy, seeming to ring loudly in his ears for several minutes until it eventually receded, allowing the sound of the chirping Nincadas to resume.
The young trainer looked at the girl with wide eyes, her face still twisted into a scowl as she examined him closely, her hand ready to hit him one more time if he didn't comply.
"What's wrong with you!?" She demanded, her voice nearing the level of a scream on the empty street. To their left Nico watched a passing car drive by - the first sign of civilization he had seen in hours. His eyes stayed transfixed on the license plate until it was eventually out of sight and he had no choice but to make eye contact with the girl who continued to glare at him once more. "You've been acting like an idiot ever since we got to Sinnoh! What were you thinking? Stealing Pokemon? Kidnapping May? Coming all the way out here just for a Pokemon battle? What are you thinking!?"
"I knew you wouldn't understand," Nico's voice rising in unison. "Nobody understands! This was my one chance to start a new life and I thought that..."
He looked down at his feet sheepishly, his fingers flexing uncomfortably in his jacket pocket as he pondered whether or not to say what he was going to say.
"I thought that if I could get somebody to understand me then I wouldn't have to be alone again..." He finished, a sad note to his voice. "Like before you met me..."
Alisa's face lightened somewhat as she listened to the sincerity in the boy's voice. It was a brand new side that she had never seen to Nico - he was always brash, rude, in-your-face and refused to ever show a softer side, even when he first joined her family all those years ago as a young child. His smiles were never from happiness and his face was never dirtied by tears. A loss in a Pokemon battle had never made him so upset before. She bent down a little to try and regain eye contact, then placed a consoling hand on his shoulder.
"Nico," she spoke softly, "the only reason I don't understand is because you've never explained it to me. Please, tell me."
"You don't-"
"I do!" Alisa quickly interrupted Nico's protests. "I want you to tell me. I want you to tell me anything. We're siblings, remember?"
"Not by blood." Nico pointed out.
"I don't care about that, Nico!" She insisted. "You're still the only brother I have. I want you to trust me like I trust you."
Trust. The word echoed in Nico's head for a moment. How could she ever trust him, knowing their whole relationship had been a lie this entire time? Especially her relationship with her father - mild-mannered carnival owner by day, Pokemon thief by night.
"I just..." Nico began, pausing for a moment to consider if he really wanted to go through with this. "I just don't want to upset you, is all..."
"I'd be more upset if you didn't tell me the truth, Nico." Alisa explained firmly. "I'm your sister and I deserve to know. I don't want us to part ways like this."
Nico looked into his sister's eyes, and they were as comforting as ever - no judgment, no malice; nothing but unwavering sincerity.
An uneasy silence filled the void in Nico's mind as he considered the potential ramifications of what he was about to say. Alisa respected her father more than anyone else in the whole world - to her, he could do no wrong. Yet the reality was markedly different from her fantasy. It was an uncomfortable situation for anyone to be put on the spot for - the sister you respect more than anything having to learn the hard truth about the man who had raised her on his own since birth. Yet perhaps it would be more hard to live a false life believing in a dream world instead of waking up and seeing the real thing passing you by. Using you.
"Your father..." Nico stuttered awkwardly, his eyes shifting down to the ground. "Told me to always be prepared to take the fall for the good of the carnival..."
"The fall?" Alisa repeated, a quizzical look on her face as she raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean the fall? You make it sound like-"
"Haven't you ever wondered where we get all those new Pokemon from?" Nico interrupted her, his eyes meeting her own as his voice took on a more serious, straightforward tone. "How we get enough money to float from region to region and never stay in one place for very long? I mean, we haven't been back to Kanto in close to ten years!"
"Yeah, but..." Alisa began, not entirely certain of what her brother was trying to get at. "That's just the life of a traveling carnival, Nico!"
"No, Alisa." Nico replied calmly. "You're wrong. Your father's not just a host of a carnival." He paused for a moment, breaking their gaze as he looked up towards the moon that was suspended high up in the sky. "I'm sorry, but... He trained me to be a Pokemon thief after you took me in."
Alisa was silent for a moment - her eyes continued to look in Nico's direction, but they now seemed to be looking through his own rather than into them. She took a step back, turning on the spot and folding her arms, showing her back to the boy who instantly slumped at her reaction.
"Teaming up with Team Rocket was his idea," he continued. "He planned an exchange of money with them. It was the most ambitious project yet. After you told him your dream of hosting a Pokemon contest he thought it would be the perfect decoy, and he assigned me to..."
"Nico..." Alisa interjected. "Please... Stop."
Nico sighed and fell silent. He knew this would happen; this was just the perfect ending to the perfect day. He had lost his life - his home, his Pokemon, his freedom, and now even his family.
"I'm sorry." He spoke earnestly, kicking a small pebble from the road onto the sidewalk and watching it tumble across the asphalt. "I never meant to hurt you."
The roadway was silent for a few moments before footsteps prompted Alisa to turn and see Nico continuing to walk down the street, refusing to look back.
"Nico!" She yelled after him, causing him to stop, turning his head slightly to indicate that he was listening to her, though he could not see her. "If that's true then... Then why did you take May after Team Rocket appeared!?"
Nico's shoulders slumped once more and he let out a bitter chuckle, refusing to turn around again.
"I knew that your father would blame me for the screw-up in Sinnoh." He sighed. "I wasn't ready to lose my family, so I guess I just wanted to have someone..."
He hesitated for a moment before finishing his thoughts.
"Someone that I could try to make love me."
Alisa couldn't help but crack a depressed smile at the boy's confession.
"But I know I was stupid," he confessed. "I know you can't force somebody to love you." He craned his head up towards the night sky where the stars were now dimly twinkling overhead, as if he had an audience to his bizarre confession. "But I guess I was just caught in the moment. I wanted to believe that it was really possible to start over again."
He shifted his feet one last time before adding, "I'm sorry."
Alisa was silent as she watched the boy turn away again, his hands in his jacket pockets.
"Goodbye, Alisa."
With that he began the long walk back into LaRousse City, and all Alisa could do was watch in depressed silence as the street lights all around slowly flickered into life.